OK, since my 1990 Suzuki DR350S has the factory stock tires on it, I want to replace them. They only have 1659 miles on them. Look great, no cracks have always been stored inside but I'm concerned that being almost 23 years old, I don't want a blow out while miles in the Maine woods or miles away from home in Maine. What tires do you recommend for 75% on road 25% off road? Thanks, Frank

I have tried from 127.5-142.5 and needle clip at 2, 3 and 4 and it runs slightly better with the 127.5 but it still won't rev more than 3/4 of the way in neutral or under load
Cut airbox and jesses header with fmf muffler at sea level

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Thump. Another way to get around elavation change is to mess with the air box opening. Before changing jets I would have removed the snorkle, the either crack or remove the air filter hatch. This often is enough to cheat your way to a running bike. Even losening and pulling the air filter slightly off the sealing base if you jsut need it for a short period.

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Yep, that's how I got back to the hotel the first day. But I didn't want to run like that for two weeks. I had packed jets just in case. It's a good thing I did.

OK, since my 1990 Suzuki DR350S has the factory stock tires on it, I want to replace them. They only have 1659 miles on them. Look great, no cracks have always been stored inside but I'm concerned that being almost 23 years old, I don't want a blow out while miles in the Maine woods or miles away from home in Maine. What tires do you recommend for 75% on road 25% off road? Thanks, Frank

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I'd suggest swapping them out. At the very least change the tubes and if you're going to go to that trouble you may as well put on new tires.

I really liked the Shinko 244's on my KLR. Very predictable on the pavement and did well for my style of riding off the pavement (motoring along quietly). I never had them in really muddy conditions but my understanding is since the knobs are relatively close together they don't clear as well as true knobbies.

After the problems I had with my upper bearing, I discovered the lower one was completely missing anyway. I'm in the middle of a frame-up rebuild now, but I'm just going to run the bike without either bearing as it seems quite happy like that on the street.
I'm guessing if you're running a 16T front sprocket, your miles are mostly on tarmac too?

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Right now I use the bike as a commuter, but it still sees dirt once or twice a week and because of that I run a generous amount of chain slack. The chain wants to jiggle around and cause a slight vibration when starting from a stop and shifting sometimes. Maybe I have an alignment issue which is causing the chain to bounce around without the roller.

OK, since my 1990 Suzuki DR350S has the factory stock tires on it, I want to replace them. They only have 1659 miles on them. Look great, no cracks have always been stored inside but I'm concerned that being almost 23 years old, I don't want a blow out while miles in the Maine woods or miles away from home in Maine. What tires do you recommend for 75% on road 25% off road? Thanks, Frank

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You will get a million different opinions for new tires but regarding your old ones: 23 year old tires are unsafe for street use. The rubber has dried and hardened and the first rain will make for a memorable experience. And, yes, plan on also replacing the tubes for the same reasons. You can always keep he old tubes as spares if they don't get ripped during removal.

Another vote for Shinko 244 or Kenda 870 for your use, with a slight preference for the Shinko on-road and the Kenda off-road.

OK, since my 1990 Suzuki DR350S has the factory stock tires on it, I want to replace them. They only have 1659 miles on them. Look great, no cracks have always been stored inside but I'm concerned that being almost 23 years old, I don't want a blow out while miles in the Maine woods or miles away from home in Maine. What tires do you recommend for 75% on road 25% off road? Thanks, Frank

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I would also recommend scrapping the tires, they have to be entirely to stiff at this point.

Another tire for you to check would be a Shinko 700 I am running one on my KLR and have a set to put on my DR350 for more street orientated rides.

Anyone have any idea of average life for wheel bearings? I realize location and riding conditions play a big role, but....2,000 miles? 10,000 miles? 20,000 miles?

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I just rotate them with a finger and if it feels smooth I'm good. I replaced them on my 1995SE at about 21K miles with ones that had seals on both sides. The bike now has about 43K and they still feel good. This bike has done many river crossings that submerged the axles (or more) as well as a fair amount of highway riding.

As another data point, my 1993 BMW R100R has 195K on the original front wheel bearings. I've never done anything but feel the rotation at tire changes. Not many deep river crossings with that one.

My book says stock is 132.5 and 3rd groove. If this is correct, that 140 may be a little rich at 6k to 13k ft. Not many passes much higher than that. So 122.5 might be close. How does it run. Most of us will not have a dyno or exhaust gas analyzer. You're gonna have to try it. How does it: sound... deep/throaty or tinny/pinging. smell...lots of gas smell or not. respond....quick or sluggish. Run hot or not. Plug color...white or black. Every bike is a little different depending on condition and set up. Get some jets and a manual and some help if you need it.

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The bike was running out of fuel going up hill, so I have the carb off the bike so that I can clean it and hopefully solve that problem. I found the piston or pumper? stuck in the float cover. Not sure if that was the cause? I will put the 122.5 main jet back in and report back.

OK, since my 1990 Suzuki DR350S has the factory stock tires on it, I want to replace them. They only have 1659 miles on them. Look great, no cracks have always been stored inside but I'm concerned that being almost 23 years old, I don't want a blow out while miles in the Maine woods or miles away from home in Maine. What tires do you recommend for 75% on road 25% off road? Thanks, Frank

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Another vote to get rid of them. I got a 1991 DR350 that had less miles on it with original tires. They were close to impossible to remove because they were not flexible at all. I had to cut the rear one off with a sawzall.

The bike was running out of fuel going up hill, so I have the carb off the bike so that I can clean it and hopefully solve that problem. I found the piston or pumper? stuck in the float cover. Not sure if that was the cause? I will put the 122.5 main jet back in and report back.

Seriously, thanks for all of the responses. Very nice community here.

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The accelerator pump functions ONLY during the first 1/3 or so of throttle rotation. After that it does nothing. If you're really "running out gas" its probably float level.

I looked for mine for 5 months, then just after I purchased in February 4 more popped up. it looks like 3 of them have sold already tho. Check your local craigslist and be ready to jump with the cash. The one I bought i called within hours of it posting and the seller got 30 additional calls about it within days.

thanks for this most helpful tip! I didn't want to take mine apart without having a backup so I ordered an NGK replacement spark plug boot (got the number from another online resource) and waited until it arrived before I tore into mine. I put the replacement boot on and it starts on the 5th or 6th kick stone-cold. Instead of the 66th kick. I took the 20 year old one apart and the spring behind the resistor was half gone from corrosion.

My DR has been off the road ever since the POS Cobra exhaust fell to bits:

Picked up an 08 KLX450 exhaust for next-to-nothing (unused take-off from a new bike) which looked like it sort-of fitted but I decided I needed to bend it a bit to get it "right" and have so far failed to do so. Finally got tired of waiting today and slapped on an old head-steady from a DRZ125 as a bracket. It's on, it's solid, it looks ok and it sounds great - nice and throaty with the spark-arrestor removed, nice and quiet with it installed.